The Legacy of Liberty and Sacrifice
The Sons of Liberty and the Founding Fathers undertook profound and personal risks to secure American freedom from British rule. They did not act in safety, but under constant threat,
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operating in secrecy as they organized boycotts, resistance, and acts of defiance. They faced charges of treason—punishable by death—along with imprisonment, mob violence, and the confiscation of their property.
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Men like John Hancock risked financial ruin when the British impounded his ship, while others endured or faced the threat of tar-and-feathering, public beatings, or execution for their role in events like the Boston Tea Party.
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Tribunal is currently on a short break. Return - not before 12 noon. Reporting of 3rd session will be on this thread, all background and abbreviations are in thread QT'd.

https://x.com/tribunaltweets/status/2072982433599832353?s=20

J - we have concluded C case, move on to R

DH sworn in
AL - you will need to famil yourself with the bundle of witness statements.
Discussion about what DH should look at
AL - ref to index, find your WS, and the doc you have does it have your name on

Tribunal is currently on a short break. Return - not before 11:00 am. Reporting of 2nd morning session will be on this thread, all background and abbreviations are in thread QT'd.

https://x.com/tribunaltweets/status/2072958419653292159?s=20

Some discussion about ED's health conditions
J - are you feeling well enough to answer some questions?
J - we have heard evidence about the subject of post moderation - somebody in defra would examine posts if appropriate.

agender as a network would reg post on the intranet
No
J - did you post blog articles/
ED - only Twitter and website, shut twitter now not website
J any complaints about material on website#
ED no
J comments about anything elsewhere
ED twitter everything a wave of abuse

I am pleased to introduce the Chinese Invisible Cities Index (CICI) - some Friday fun. 😏

These aren't the smallest or poorest cities. These are the cities with the least aura vs. their population.

They make you say: "wait, I've never heard of it and it has HOW many people?"🧵

My methodology for the CICI was as follows:

Start with a normalized value for their registered hukou population (户籍人口), not current inhabitants (常住人口). That's considering the entire prefecture population, not just the metro downtown, because anyone or any part of a prefecture can contribute to reputation creation.

After that, subtract for anything that gives the prefecture city aura, name-recognition, any kind of notability at all. That includes things like:

- being a provincial capital
- having famous tourist attractions (esp. 5A)
- having a national brand headquarters
- having historical or cultural significance
- famous cuisine/dishes
- any memes associated with the city
- being the site of a major disaster or scandal (negative reputation is still reputation)
- having anything else that people think of when you mention it

The highest scores after subtracting become the leaders on my CICI. This methodology allows me to find not just the small and obscure cities, but specifically *cities that are far less famous than their population suggests they should be.* The data part of this was AI-assisted.

I haven't been to most of the places on this top 15 list - because I'd typically travel to places that have notable economic or touristic activity - which by definition perform worse in the CICI. 🤔

And look, I know almost every city has a bit of *something*, or else there wouldn't be be a city there at all. It's all relative, and subjective, and for fun, so if you want to disagree with the list, just be nice about it.

All that being said, here my top 15:

#15 Dazhou (达州), Sichuan
Tier: A-
Population: ~6.4m

A clean example of a low-aura city. Has a *bit* of stuff going on (natural gas, Han ruins, a canyon) but nothing at a national presence level. Population not enormous, but very little happening to associate with the name.

The employment tribunal of Samantha Tempest vs DEFRA & Rural Payments Agency will continue today, 3rd July with continued evidence expected from Emma Dunn. Our coverage of the first morning session will be here.

Our previous coverage, plus relevant publicly available documents can be found on our Substack here:
open.substack.com/pub/tribunaltw…

Tempest (the claimant or C) is claiming discrimination, harassment and/or victimisation on grounds of gender reassignment. Central to the claim is the Sex Equality and Equity Network in the Civil Service (SEEN or IP). SEEN has been granted right to intervene.

Fedorov: During the latest mass attack on Kyiv, Ukraine intercepted about 95% of Shaheds — around 600 were launched.

Against cruise missiles, the interception rate can also reach 80–90% when Ukraine has enough F-16s and enough missiles to cover the whole country.

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Fedorov: Ukraine is investing heavily in cheap missiles to prepare for winter and bad weather, when interceptor drones face limits.

During the main mass attack, about 75% of Shaheds were intercepted by interceptor drones.

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Fedorov: Ukraine continues to destroy 30,000–35,000 Russians a month — killed or seriously wounded.

Partners call this a unique statistic: in this war, drones make evacuation harder, so the share of killed is unusually high.

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@EscapeCOV I will be now stfu

https://twitter.com/EscapeCOV/status/2072782525056086208

@EscapeCOV @EscapeCOV @ChrisPentecos @Nncim15 @LangleyResident @BarbaraDoduk @RegretlessBee @Cdnwatcher @Istandtoreason @facepalmchris @trustednerd @felixcruggins @CultureGuard @WaxMyBallsShow @FranLa9 @kfurneaux23 @VernThurston @JonYaniv

@EscapeCOV @ChrisPentecos @Nncim15 @LangleyResident @BarbaraDoduk @RegretlessBee @Cdnwatcher @Istandtoreason @facepalmchris @trustednerd @felixcruggins @CultureGuard @WaxMyBallsShow @FranLa9 @kfurneaux23 @VernThurston @JonYaniv @threadreaderapp unroll

@EscapeCOV i will be now stfu.....

https://twitter.com/EscapeCOV/status/2072782525056086208

@EscapeCOV @ChrisPentecos @Nncim15 @LangleyResident @BarbaraDoduk @RegretlessBee @Cdnwatcher @Istandtoreason @facepalmchris @trustednerd @felixcruggins @CultureGuard @WaxMyBallsShow @FranLa9 @kfurneaux23 @VernThurston @JonYaniv

@EscapeCOV @ChrisPentecos @Nncim15 @LangleyResident @BarbaraDoduk @RegretlessBee @Cdnwatcher @Istandtoreason @facepalmchris @trustednerd @felixcruggins @CultureGuard @WaxMyBallsShow @FranLa9 @kfurneaux23 @VernThurston @JonYaniv @threadreaderapp unroll

SitRep - 02/07/26 - Queues into eternity in Russia

An overview of the daily events in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The fuel crisis is hitting hard in Russia, leading to extremely long queues and people fighting over fuel at the pump.

REPOST=appreciated

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Missed the latest one?

https://x.com/NOELreports/status/2072576748231836117

As usual we start with Russian losses

https://x.com/NOELreports/status/2072577010841296918

This home was constructed over a century ago and it stood. When Durga Sarath Architects found it in 2018 it was vacant and severely dilapidated but the structure was intact, and even the roof. That is because of one thing I have spoken about a thousand times here: material intelligence. The walls are laterite, a stone that gets harder and more durable the longer it is exposed to air. The ceilings are timber. The floors are Athangudi tiles which naturally keep interiors cool. The roof tiles were so intact they were dismantled, cleaned and placed back exactly where they were.

A century ago these people understood what they were building with and today they keep refining it and constructing in the very same style, only better. This is something we cannot say about construction here. The homes still standing on this continent from the previous century were mostly built by Western settlers. When I point out that we have a refinement problem, some of you label it internalized racism and defend the tacky way we build.

As long as I live I will preach and practice permanence across this continent. There is no pride in how our people currently build, and there will be none until we change it.

Feroke, Calicut, Kerala | Durga Sarath Architects | Photography: Turtle Arts Photography

More photos in the comments.

More images from the above project.

@elonmusk The Architecture of the Algorithmic Future and Its Impact on Human Destiny

@elonmusk The ideological orientation often plays a decisive role in career choices and shapes scientific work. It is remarkable that a considerable number of early AI researchers were well aware of the disruptive dangers of their work.

@elonmusk Despite a technocratic wing, the leftist wing initially always predominated. Many of the former AI pioneers at universities held the view that capitalism in its current form had to be overcome,

I am so fucked up hahahahahaaaa 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜

Part 1)

#SurreyRCMP #surreyps #LangleyRCMP #BCRCMP #RCMP #Police #Cops #Canada #BC #BritishColumbia #Langley #LangleyBC #Surrey #SurreyBC #GAWDIWANTAMALECOPSEXUALLY🤤

I am so fucked up hahahahahaaaa 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜

Part 2)

#SurreyRCMP #surreyps #LangleyRCMP #BCRCMP #RCMP #Police #Cops #Canada #BC #BritishColumbia #Langley #LangleyBC #Surrey #SurreyBC #GAWDIWANTAMALECOPSEXUALLY🤤

@SurreyRCMP @surreyps @LangleyRCMP

@ChrisPentecos @Nncim15 @LangleyResident @BarbaraDoduk @RegretlessBee @Cdnwatcher @Istandtoreason @facepalmchris @trustednerd @felixcruggins @CultureGuard @WaxMyBallsShow @FranLa9 @kfurneaux23 @VernThurston @JonYaniv